[NSRCA-discussion] RC Pilot killed

Sat Sep 7 12:11:54 AKDT 2013

We have a rule about not flying closer than the far edge of the runway at our field.  It is pretty much ignored by a handful of the flyers that think their plane is going much faster if they fly it closer.  Club members are afraid to speak up and if one does approach these people and suggest they should read the safety rules, you automatically become the 'jerk' that is trying to ruin their fun.  Recently, one of these pilots flew his plane into the ground while doing high speed passes and immediately claimed structural failure.  The entire pit area quickly explained to him that it was his pilot error, not a structural failure.  Will be interesting to see if this changes his approach to flying.  I doubt it.  Seems like someone has to get hurt before a club starts paying attention, then it is typically an over-reaction.

Don

-----Original Message-----
From: Astropattern <astropattern at yahoo.com>
To: mike mueller <mups1953 at yahoo.com>; General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Cc: General pattern discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Sat, Sep 7, 2013 12:45 pm
Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] RC Pilot killed

My son and I were at our local field a few years back, and a guy doing 3D with a 40% was hovering over the pilot stations when he lost it and it came back over the pits heading straight for us. He caught it about 10 feet from us and the prop wash was the only thing we felt. 

Had words with him about keeping the planes out over the field so this wouldn't happen again. He literally laughed it off in my face with a dozen people standing around. 
Around that time, the problem got so bad, another local club actually banned 3D flying altogether, until the new president elect was a 3D flyer. 

To this day, I and several others tend to exit the field when the "trailers" pull up. Not all large scale flyers deserve this rep, obviously, but it seems to be a common problem at many fields. 

The AMA safety code should include a "50-foot out" rule except for landing, takeoff, or approaches. Many clubs do so.

John

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 7, 2013, at 2:48 PM, mike mueller <mups1953 at yahoo.com> wrote:

There was a 40% crash in a European country a number of years ago. I want to say Poland or maybe Hungary where 4 people in a crowd were killed during an airshow.
 Can't stress the importance of using common sense and having strict rules regarding safety.
 It's time to stop the insanity.

Mike Mueller
 Customer Services 
 F3AUnlimited

   From: Randy Forbus <rforbus at hotmail.com>
 To: "nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> 
 Sent: Saturday, September 7, 2013 1:43 PM
 Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] RC Pilot killed

Well its to bad nothing is done until someone gets killed, not surprised its not happened before, and Mike your right its only a matter of time till it happens to 50% 3D plane and it takes out a pilot, we all rely on the equipment not to malfunction and we know its not bullet proof and common sense comes into play also.

> From: klhoard at hotmail.com
> Date: Sat, 7 Sep 2013 13:32:17 -0500
> To: nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] RC Pilot killed
> 
> Yes to all of the above. I could give you a one hour rant on how predictable and avoidable this tragedy was. I started flying helos a year ago, and was appalled at how these guys fly with absolutely NO safety margin.  So yes, there are 100+ "single points of failure" on a modern 700 class helicopter, but guys regularly fly them within feet of themselves and often with a vector and speed that would scare the crap out of a normal person.  YouTube videos do not do justice to the power of a 700 spinning up to 2500 RPM and doing several full collective pitch pumps 3 feet away from you then standing on its tail for a full power inverted blast away from you.  This was a case of an entire industry standing around in a circle going "Yup, that's dangerous as hell, someone's going to get killed", and NONE of the adults (AMA, Manufacturers, Contest Directors, Parents) taking a leadership role and placing restrictions on the operations.  
> 
> Partial Rant over. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Sep 7, 2013, at 12:44, "SilentAV8R" <Silentav8r at cox.net> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > On 9/7/13 10:33 AM, Keith Hoard wrote:
> >> The cause was flying too damn close. 
> > 
> > Or a ball link broke
> > Or a linkage failed
> > Or a servo stripped
> > Or a horn broke
> > Or a radio hold
> > Or a Gyro problem
> > Or a battery failed
> > Or a T/R gear stripped
> > Or a blade bearing gave out
> > Or a........
> > 
> > You get the idea. Just a little too easy to say he was flying to close. The guy in Tucson who hit himself with his own plane after losing it in the sun was not flying to close, and yet he was killed by his own plane.
> > 
> > Bill in SOCAL
> > _______________________________________________
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> > NSRCA-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> > http://lists.nsrca.org/mailman/listinfo/nsrca-discussion
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